Smolyan

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Smolyan (Смолян)
Smolyan coat of arms Map of Bulgaria, position of Smolyan highlighted
Basic data
State : BulgariaBulgaria Bulgaria
Oblast : Smolyan
Residents : 28,160  (December 31, 2016)
Coordinates : 41 ° 35 '  N , 24 ° 41'  E Coordinates: 41 ° 34 '48 "  N , 24 ° 41' 24"  E
Height : 1050 m
Postal code : 4700
Telephone code : (+359) 0301
License plate : CM
administration
Mayor : Nikolay Melemov
Ruling party : GERB
Website : www.smolyan.com
Smoljan (red square) - Bulgaria - Neighboring towns: Madan , Kardzhali , Momchilgrad , Podkowa , Haskowo , Asenovgrad , Plovdiv , Pazardzhik , Velingrad , Xanthi , Komotini , Kavala
The city's new cathedral - Vissarion Smolenski
Mogila settlement today
The Rhodope Mountains

Smoljan [ ˈsmɔljɐn ] ( Bulgarian Смолян, Turkish Paşmaklı or Ahiçelebi) is a city in southern Bulgaria . The city is the administrative seat of Smolyan Oblast and the Smolyan Municipality. The city is at an altitude of 999 to 1050 m. It is located in the valley of the Cherna (“Black”) and Byala (“White”) rivers in the Rhodope Mountains , a little south of the ski resorts of Pamporowo and Chepelare .

history

According to archaeological excavations, the area around Smolyan was discovered in the 2nd millennium BC. Settled. It got its name from the Slavic Smolyan people who settled in the area in the 7th century AD. The Slavic name of the settlement was Eserowo. At other times the settlement was called Aetos, Acha-Tschelebi (Bulgarian Ахъ- Челеби), and Pashmakli (Turkish: Paşmaklı).

According to Herodotus , the Rhodope Mountains, in which Smoljan is also located, were around 3000 to 2500 BC. Settled by the Thracians . Philostratos describes Res, the mythological hero from the Rhodope Mountains, the son of Euterpe , who lived with Aetos and who took part in the Trojan War with his troop of horsemen . Homer described the same res by having Dolon say in the Iliad : "I see his horses, the most beautiful and the largest, whiter than the snow, quick-footed as the whirlwind".

In the Middle Ages part of the Byzantine and Bulgarian Empire , it was ruled by the Bulgarian Count Momchil in the 14th century, along with the rest of the Rhodope Mountains , before the Ottoman Empire subjugated the country. Smolyan remained under Ottoman rule for five centuries.

In 1912 the area was captured by the 21st Sredna Gora regiment under Vladimir Serafimov as part of the First Balkan War .

In 1936 archaeological excavations were carried out above Smoljan, next to the remaining ruins of the Aetos fortress. Fortress walls made of stone and mortar that were almost two meters thick were discovered, as well as the old Slavic settlement Mogila (Bulgarian Могила).

The modern city of Smolyan emerged in 1960 from the three historic villages of Ustowo , Rajkowo and Eserowo . The village of Eserowo lay above the Smolyan Lakes, Rajkowo was a handicraft center and Ustowo a center for traders. The founding of the city was a measure within the framework of spatial planning policy with the aim of establishing a regional center in the remote and poorly developed area of ​​the Rhodope Mountains, in which there are otherwise only villages and very small towns. Large administrative buildings and apartment blocks (some of which are now empty) are evidence of this objective. Because of the weak economic base in the area to date, it cannot be described as successful.

Since 1997, the city has given its name to Smolyan Point , a headland on Livingston Island in Antarctica.

economy

The Smolyan area is economically underdeveloped, even by Bulgarian standards. Tourism and wood processing are the main industries. A German-Bulgarian training center for professions in these industries has existed on site since 2010.

Culture and sights

Thanks to its convenient location on Mount Roschen, the Bulgarian National Astronomical Observatory is nearby and maintains a planetarium in the city center. There is a theater and a group of municipal theater professionals organized under the name Internationales Theaterkollektiv Rhodopen .

  • Historical Museum (There has been a regional history museum since 1935.)
  • the Uchlovitsa cave (bulg. пещера Ухловица)
  • the churches
    • Sveti Georgi
    • Sweta Bogorodiza
    • Sveti Teodor Statilat
    • Sveti Wissarion Smolenski

The largest church in southern Bulgaria, the Cathedral of Saint Vissarion, was inaugurated in the city center in July 2006.

  • Houses from the time of the Bulgarian Revival ,
  • Art gallery,
  • the official seat of the Ottoman administrator: Konak des Ali-Bej (Bulgarian Али-Бейският конак),
  • the Copper Merchants' Street (bulg. медникарската чаршия).

The construction of the new city center was carried out in 1983.

Smolyan municipality

Smoljan is also the seat of a municipality of the same name (община / obschtina), which in turn is part of the Smolyan Oblast and includes the following 80 villages in addition to the city of Smolyan:

sons and daughters of the town

Web links

Commons : Smoljan  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ДП Българо-германски център за професионално обучение клон Смолян | курсове за професионално обучение. Retrieved October 5, 2018 (German).